Many attempts have been made over the years to produce cutting apparatus that could effectively cut relatively long lengths of bar stock into desired shorter lengths. One approach has involved the use of a cutting or pinch roll operating on the same principle as the pipe cutter utilized by plumbers. Another approach has involved the use of a screw machine in which a stationary knife bears against a bar that is rotated. Another approach has involved the use of two aperture dies, initially aligned, one of which is displaced relative to the other at right angles to the axis of the stock to shear the bar. Another approach has involved the use of a screw type machine in which the bar stock is maintained stationary and the knifes are rotated to cut the bar. All of these prior art devices have suffered from one or more disadvantages. Specifically, either the apparatus required to perform the required cutting action has been unduly complicated or expensive, or the cut produced by the apparatus has been unsatisfactory in the sense of either leaving a burr on the cut length of bar or producing distortion of the cut edges.